I had just my face done - Pixel Laser - Portland, OR

I had just my face done for $250. I bought a...

5 Jun 2014

14 days post

I had just my face done for $250. I bought a package of three for $750, but I haven't decided whether I want to use the other two on my face again. I might do neck/chest.

First of all, it hurt. I wasn't offered anything to numb my face beforehand and if i do this again, I will insist on it. In fact, it hurt so bad that I didn't let her finish. She didn't do my nose or eye lids.

Secondly, it took a full five days before I was comfortable going out in public. Luckily, I was prepared for a few days down time, so I did it on a Friday morning of a holiday weekend, so had Monday off also. I had to meet with my boss the following Wednesday and on Tuesday I was worried about it because I still had unpeeled dark patches all over my face. By Wednesday, it was gone.

Third, I was completely unprepared for the 'screen effect'. She mentioned in passing just before she started that I would get a screen pattern for a day. Well, she didn't mention that it was three dimensional and that my face would even feel like a screen when I ran my fingertips over it. My skin was so tight and dry and the pattern was so severe that I felt like I had a mask on and it made me feel anxious/claustrophobic.

So the first day it was like a bad sunburn. Very warm and red. By the end of the day, my skin had turned dark brown and started to pixelate. The second day, I had a definite screen pattern. That lasted until it all peeled off. It started peeling the fourth day and was done by the sixth.

I highly recommend the Aquaphor. I wasn't told that and luckily found out about it online on day three. It was so much more bearable with that on. I didn't feel as claustrophobic or anxious. I was given a suggestion to buy an after-laser care kit from Epionce, but was not really given any other after care instruction.

I'm on week 2 post treatment and my hyper pigmentation is lessened, as well as the fine lines. I also had problems with melia and that has gotten better, but it's not gone. I have pretty bad acne that must have been caused by the treatment, mainly on my chin. If it's not cleared up in a week or so, I'll go to my dermatologist and see if there's anything she can do for it or if she thinks it will just go away.

One month after pixel

26 Jun 2014

1 month post

The acne is pretty much gone now. It started out as cystic acne on my chin. I've never really had acne before, so it was definitely from the treatment or the use of the Vaseline or Barrier Cream.
I decided to use the remaining two sessions that I had purchased on my neck and chest. It hurt! She put Epionce Barrier Cream on immediately following the procedure and that was almost unbearable for 2-3 minutes, but she swore it was something that I wanted done. In the following days, it definitely felt like more of a burn than it did on my face. She said she used the same settings, but the sunburn feeling was worse and lasted longer.
The weirdest part of this treatment is that it never really got as prominent of a grid feeling. I could feel it, but not as extreme. And now it doesn't seem to be peeling off, it's just calming down. It definitely lifted pigment because I would say that the pigment is darker than it was. It's been a week and I still have quite a bit of the grid pattern. I'm thinking I might go in for microdermabrasion in a week and maybe that will get rid of the remaining grid pattern and lifted pigment.
My face looks good. I can see a difference in the fine lines and the hyper pigmentation is less.
I'm still not sure this is worth it. Very painful and unsightly for a week.

Final update

13 Jul 2014

2 months post

My neck and chest definitely have less pigment. I had a lot of sun damage. It's not gone, but better. The one thing I'd like to point out on her neck/chest treatment is that the grid pattern was more subtle (less sun damage/pigment than face?) and that it didn't peel in the same way. It just kind of faded and disappeared. It took probably twice as long even though it was not as apparent as on the face.
I'm not sure I would do pixel again. It was the grid pattern that bothered me more than anything. I'm looking into fraxel for my next treatment. The pain and sunburn feeling, the redness and swelling, were a lot to deal with, but the grid pattern was what horror movies are made of. I hated it on my face. Neck and chest wasn't so bad except that it lasted so much longer that I was worried it wouldn't go away.
From what I've read, fraxel is a better treatment anyway.